Russia's coverage of the Chinese-Russian relations has a internal political dimension, says Tallinn University Chinese language and culture lecturer Jekaterina Koort.

“They want to show the people they have a strong back yard. It is no secret Russia has few serious partners left,” Koort told ERR radio.

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said after meeting his counterpart in Beijing that relations between the two nations show extraordinary growth, and cooperation is going on in all fields. Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, said China would like to deepen relations.

Koort said Russia is turning towards Asia as relations with the West deteriorate.

“China is interested in profiting from the cooperation, and they have succeeded in that, signing favorable gas purchase deals for example,” she said.

“There is no euphoria in the Chinese media when they cover relations with Russia. They're simply stating that the relations are good. China is not a transparent country, they never behave in a transparent way, so it must be all be part of their carefully selected strategy,” Koort said.